Day 8: Drežnica to Tolmin Slovenia

We can describe today’s 15-mile hike in four words: Steep Up, Long Down.

Day 6 on the Alpe Adria Trail! Drežnica is so quiet and lovely that we could easily stay in this peaceful little town for days.

This morning, I stumbled across a fascinating Nat Geo article about this charming village and their endangered goats. If you’re curious, it’s worth a read:

National Geographic Article on Drežnica’s Goats

Our stay at the Jelkin Hram in Drežnica was fantastic—friendly innkeepers and great food. When we said our goodbyes, our hostess gifted us tiny jars of honey her brother had harvested.

A thoughtful parting gift!

In case I hadn’t mentioned it, today’s hike involved a steep climb! But it was mostly wooded, and as we approached the highest point on the trail, we were rewarded with a stunning view of the church, whose bells woke us at 6 a.m. this morning.

Drežnica from high above

On our descent, we passed through alpine pastures and tiny villages. We stopped at one for a picnic lunch and enjoyed a bitter lemon soda—if we could get these in the States, we’d drink them all the time!

We encountered a bit of mountain traffic today! We came up behind two guys who looked like typical hikers (boots, poles, daypacks), except they were herding 50 sheep down the trail. Anytime hikers approached from the other direction, everything came to a screeching halt. The sheep would scatter, the shepherds would yell and gesture for the oncoming hikers to move off the trail, and the hikers—who didn’t speak Slovene—were left confused.

Watching these traffic jams unfold from behind the shepherds gave us some much-needed comic relief during our downhill trek.

We made it to Tolmin, Slovenia by late afternoon and checked into our apartment, which is immediately across the street from a church with a bell tower (there’s a theme building here). Tolmin feels large compared to the places we’ve stayed so far.

We had dinner at the nearest restaurant (pizza, beer, and a house platter - which was a bunch of meat piled on top of fries).

Tomorrow we’ll cross the Italian border early and climb to the tiny mountain village of Tribil di Sopra.

Looking forward to sharing tomorrow’s adventure with you!

Jen & Bob